B-P softball battles back for win against Blackstone Valley

Wednesday

May 14, 2014 at 10:42 PMMay 14, 2014 at 10:47 PM

Stiner drives in game-winning run in sixth inning

Steve Sanchez Gazette Sports Editor @Chezsports

TAUNTON — The Bristol-Plymouth softball players come together as a team.No matter how many runs they’re behind, you can expect the Craftsmen to fight until the end.Wednesday’s game against non-league opponent Blackstone Valley was no exception.“We formed a really nice bond this year as a team so it’s helping us to work together,” B-P outfielder Alexis Stiner said. “We managed to keep our heads into it. We have a lot of heart this year. It really shows in our play.”Stiner drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning as B-P held on to beat the Beavers, 9-8, before a large crowd at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School.Talia Roos picked up the victory in the circle for the Craftsmen (15-1), scattering 11 hits while striking out four.B-P pounded out 16 hits overall.“We expected it was going to be a wild one,” Craftsmen head coach Paul Westner said. “We jumped up early and they battled back. We knew they were a good team. It was just a question if we were going to finish a run better than them. That’s what we did.”Blackstone Valley scored five runs in the top of the fifth to take a 7-5 lead. B-P was down to its last six outs but slowly pushed the lead in its favor.Nine batters came to plate and four scored to give the Craftsmen the lead back at 9-7.The big hit in the inning came off the bat of B-P first baseman Lexi Kinney, who hit a two-run, inside the park home run to tie the game at 7-7. “It felt good, hitting the ball after being in a slump,” said Kinney, who finished 3-for-3. “Knowing it tied up the game, felt awesome. I knew it would pick up my team. We need to get ourselves together. We were not losing that game.”Liz Amaral then reached on a single and was replaced by Hannah Underwood. Moments later, Stiner slapped a pitch into right field, scoring Underwood.The Beavers (9-4) made one last effort in the top of the seventh with a run off of Roos. But the right-hander retired Emma Tomas on a fly ball to right field to end.“She (Roos) is one of the better pitchers we’ve faced all year and we came out swinging,” Blackstone Valley head coach Denise Medaglia said. “Some of those bloopers, there’s nothing you can do about them. This is one of the better games we played.”Rachel Ducharme (two hits) gave B-P a 5-2 lead after tripling with the bases loaded in the second. But RBI hits by Kat White, Rachel Arnold and Hannah Clark enabled the visitors to retake the lead.That set the stage for a wild finish.Sami Mulcahy finished with four hits and scored two runs. Alyse Zucco, Stiner and Adriene Kelly each finished with a pair of hits. Amaral gunned a runner out at second base in the third inning. AJ Brown caught a runner overrunning the bag in the fourth.